Rich and Well Educated: Are These Requirements Necessary to Claim Healthcare Tax Credits in Italy?

Background: The paper investigates the use of healthcare tax credits (HTCs) in Italy through the analysis of a panel data, which provides information on individual income tax from 2008 to 2014. There is evidence of disparities in the per-capita HTCs between Northern and Southern regions, which need to be analyzed and addressed. Objective: The aim of the paper is to investigate the socioeconomic determinants in the use of Healthcare Tax Credits in Italy. Methods: A fixed effects Ordinary Least Square model is run to analyze the impact of selected socioeconomic variables on regional per capita HTCs, with a particular focus on the role of education. Results: The results corroborate literature findings on the regressive effects of HTCs; they also provide highlights on the role of education in explaining the distribution of HTCs among Italian regions. Conclusion: Public money is reimbursed to regions where people are, on average, richer and better educated. More equitable objectives could be reached by allocating the same resources in the provision of services covered by the NHS.